Sandpiper Closes First Round Of VC Fundraising
HALIFAX—Sandpiper Ventures has closed its first round of venture capital fundraising, bringing in more than $10-million.
The fund’s initial investors include more than 30 women, a Canadian national bank, as well as the Government of Nova Scotia, which ponied up $5-million earlier this year.
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Sandpiper is the first VC fund from the Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund. It was founded in early 2020 to provide investment capital and mentorship to Atlantic Canadian companies led by women.
It was one of the first venture funds in Canada investing in women-led companies at the seed stage, and the first on the east coast. The fund has the largest number of private investors in an Atlantic Canadian venture fund.
In a news release announcing the milestone, Sandpiper founder and managing partner Rhiannon Davies said investing in women founders is “simply good business.”
“Statistics show that female founders experience greater successes than their male counterparts, but traditional VC doesn’t yet reflect this fact. Sandpiper is disrupting this. The operator-led fund invests in impactful women-led start-ups across tech-enabled companies,” she said.
According to the provincial government, women-owned startups are more profitable than their male-owned counterparts, generating an average $0.78 revenue per dollar invested compared to $0.31 revenue per dollar invested in male-led startups.
However, in Canada, women entrepreneurs receive an average of $900,000 compared to $2.1-million invested with their male entrepreneurs.
Sandpiper said its investors in its first round include “entrepreneurs and leaders from the community and ecosystem across the region and country.”
Institutional and individual investors and family offices such as Annette Verschuren, Gerry Pond, Mark Dobbin, Brigus Capital, Technology Venture Partners and Scotiabank’s Roynat Capital are among those on the list.
Sandpiper primarily makes seed-stage investments. The fund has also recently completed its first investments, participating in DeNova’s raise and leading Coloursmith Lab’s $2-million raise in July.
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Sandpiper says it plans to continue its strategy of “working closely with exceptional entrepreneurs and management teams to build innovative, tech-enabled companies on the east coast and across Canada.”